Dream Seasons
by Ravus
Summary: A Collection of Short Fictions. Xander has delusions of Godhood, Young Jesse becomes immortal changing fate, Spike has a last stand in a world without humans, A soul is weighed, An undead Harmony enters the dating scene, A vampire league protects humanity
1. Fallen

**Disclaimer**: Don't own Buffy, Joss Whedon does.

Just a collection of shorts and drabbles that I need to get out of my head and pinned down on to paper so they stop bothering me.

As a writer for Buffy Fan fiction you seem to HAVE to do a Halloween fic at some point, Even though the main parts will be the same, Xander gets costume. Xander becomes Costume. Xander or Giles confronts Ethan, Xander Keeps powers Slight change in history.

So here's my attempt at one that goes a little differently then normal.

Short Summery: "_If you're going to play 'let's pretend' on old hallows eve… why not aim a bit bigger..._"

* * *

Ethan watched as the friends of Ripper wandered round the dusty little shack that was his shop. He was going to make sure they all left with a costume from here, it wasn't fair to his old friendship with Ripper to only leave a job half done. The skinny little American boy was staring at some soldier combats at the back. 

Ethan slinked up silently. "Like what you see?"

The boy blinked up at him. "I can't afford it."

"Well as you are my 500th customer I can afford to let this go at a lower price."

"Really?" A gleam appeared in the boy's eye. "Just this or anything else?"

"Did you have something else in mind?"

"Well you offered the deal. And if you're going to play 'let's pretend' on old hallows eve… why not aim a bit bigger…"

_Interesting_. "Bring what you want to the counter."

Ethan watched the boy for a while hunting around in the back. Picking up random bits and pieces before muttering and moving on as though unsure of what he was actually looking for. After about five minutes the two other girls paid for their outfits and left. Another 10 minutes past before the youth brought a random assortment for Ethan to look over.

"A business suit?" That's disappointing. "This is your idea of big Mr…?"

"Call me Xander man, and no you gotta cash me in for these coloured contacts and hair dye as well. I know it's not obvious but you'll love it! I'm going for subtlety. And none of that 'Hey I dressed up as myself' crap"

"Indeed. That'll be $5.00" Ethan drawled packing up the items. "I suppose it will work as long as you visualise the character as you put on the suit… don't suppose you'll drop me a hint will you?"

"Thanks. And by the Devil you'll love it."

* * *

"Oh… um. Wow. It's great. What is it?" 

Buffy looked at the smartly dressed grinning Xander with a little worry. Everyone else seemed to be dressed up in traditional Halloween costumes but Xander was dressed seriously his hair gelled and dyed red like it was on fire and…

"Contacts? You're wearing contacts Xander?"

"Just call me Luke for tonight."

Willow descended the stairs. "Who are you supposed to be?"

* * *

"No thank you" 

"But you have to help! You're really a boy named Xander, it's his body and-"

"My dear just because someone physically looks like one soul does not mean they are."

"But it's the costumes-"

"Then take them off."

"What?"

"Take. Them. Off. The costumes are the focuses for this power, just strip your friend naked and she'll be back to herself." The Xander shaped being started examining his hands turning them this way and that while Willow blushed bright red.

"Oh… naked?"

"Naked."

"But um ghostly hands remember? Couldn't you…"

"You are a ghost of yourself correct?"

"Yeah."

"Your costume is based off the ideas you had when you put it on. You can hypothetically do just about anything you've ever seen a ghost do. With the amount of horror films your teenage mind has absorbed, you could be invisible, touch things, become incorporeal and even possess people. I'm sure you will think of something eventually. Now don't bother me again, I have a world to explore"

* * *

Willow -_eeped_ and was apologising even before she fully possessed Lady Buffy, shivering as she tried to ignore the sound of the Lady's voice screaming in panic and fear inside Willows head. Willow forced the possessed body to walk back to Buffy's house and lock herself in the bedroom. Then she forced the Lady's hands to remove the Victorian dress and petticoat from Buffy's body. Suddenly the screaming stopped. And the voice in her head spoke again… 

_Willow?!_

"Oh god buffy!" Willow quickly fled from the body trying in vain to cover her eyes with see through hands. "I was just trying to end the magic and get you to be the slayer again, I'm really sorry and I never looked it was Xander's idea, well not Xander but the Xander person that he has become like you became the Noble woman and I'm the ghost and I'm really-"

Buffy tried to cover herself up with the ruined Halloween costume, "Willow will you stop babbling and help me find some clothes!"

Suddenly the door to the bedroom burst inwards and a figure sprung inwards assuming a fighting position.

"Buffy are you okay I heard scream-" Angel stood stock still staring at the scene of Buffy's clothes in tatters and the ghostly figure of Willow hiding behind her hands. "umm… I… err…"

Buffy turned white and red before screaming "GET OUT!"

Angel backed out of the empty doorframe, watching as the ghostly Willow emerged from the wall next to him. Both stared at each other before the vampire managed to get out, "okay so what is going on here?"

10 minutes later. And a detailed but unenlightening explanation later, Angel was left shocked at what the shy little Willow had done to help out her friend. He also felt slightly jealous, but he would never admit it. Angel managed to get his thoughts in check and started to ask whom Xander dressed up as, or at least what the costume looked like, only for Buffy to emerge from her bedroom in full battle gear.

"I don't care who Xander turned into, I'm going to kick their arse!"

* * *

The Xander shaped Being was in fact just completing his second orbit of the world. It was a funny dimension that he found himself stuck in. Heaven and Hell as Democracy's? It was mind boggling and honestly quite stupid. There didn't seem to be a creator about, at least one that the Xander being could detect. He wasn't the prodigal son here so it could simply be that he was cut off from the divine knowledge. But wasn't it perfect? A whole little universe filled with good and evil and all the little people stuck in the middle, no god or divine plan. A nice little retirement dimension. 

The Xander being once again examined his body, still annoyed at the vessel he was stuck in, he lacked power while in this body, he missed being a construct of will and energy. He sighed, it was time to talk to this Ethan human and find out exactly what was going on. Perhaps he could stay though, or at least get free entry now and again.

The Ethan human was waiting in a dark corner of his shop, fully amused by the chaos he had invoked in the town. The Xander being walked through the wall behind Ethan, ignoring the sudden gasp and clattering of movement. He walked right up to the Janus Bust examining it closely.

"This has to be a joke." He turned to the shocked human on the floor, "there is no way a small god such as this managed to pull me here."

"What are you? The boy only bought a suit-" The man was obviously going to be of little help, silly mortals hated things not going to what they deemed 'part of the plan' The Xander being took little time to locate the memories that the human spoke of.

"Ah yes the boy never told you his idea for a costume, a pity, you could have avoided this whole mess Ethan." He ignored the shock splayed on the human's face, there was nothing the man could tell him that he, the dark prince, did not already know. He knew that now.

Turning around the Xander being grasped the Bust of the small god Janus, it took the work of moment to open a vein in Xander's body and draw a pentagram in the blood of his host. The bust of Janus was placed in the centre. It still needed some small sacrifice to be completed. After a moment of consideration he turned back to Ethan, smiling as he noticed that the old man was attempting to use a banishing spell.

"Now old man, that won't help." A quick wave of a hand disrupted the magical flow of energy. "I believe, mortal, that you owe me, for the crass act of summoning me without permission. I have need of something you have, so you will understand if I take my payment now."

Before Ethan could re-act the Xander Being had plunged a hand through the old man's rib cage. He watched as his own heart was pulled from his chest leaving a ghastly opening of ribs and guts. As his vision turned black the old man heard the words, "consider us even, Ethan Rane."

As the life left the human, the Xander Being placed the still beating heart in the centre of the pentagram and turned his eyes skywards, arm to the side and head thrown back issuing a summoning of powerful proportions.

"**Janus**, Master of gates, doors, beginnings and endings. I **Lucifer**, the angel Light-bringer, Lord of Hell and prodigal son of the great god Yahweh, do call you forth. Step through the world and speak with me on matters of life and death, I do demand it as justice for the wrong done to me in your name."

Lucifer repeated the words again and again; anointing himself in ancient magic, calling down a god was hard work. But then suddenly the words would not come and his eyes opened, in the middle of the cluttered shop hung a three dimensional mirror carved like gemstone. His little god was here. His reflection spun and turned in the gemstone mirror before turning fully to face him.

"_It is… Sacrilege… for a mortal… to call upon us_" The reflection spoke in halting sentences as the light bit into the mirror.

The Devil's gaze hardened as he stepped close to the gemstone. "I am no mere mortal little God, though your followers actions have bided me here. I care little for your sacrilege or preferred methods; you will find however that I care a lot about justice and vengeance. I ask only once, what was your part in this travesty."

Light reflected of the surface again as the gemstone was suddenly distorted, twisting the images it showed until both Xander's and Ethan's faces were shown in a horrid merging. "_We… we see no travesty… only humour… little mortal… in that you believe you are Lucifer_!"

The distorted reflection smirked in a savage mockery of humour. But Lucifer did not laugh, he reached forward, hand passing the surface of the gemstone until he was gripping the reflections throat in his hand. The small god gasped and twisted becoming more panicked as it's efforts went unnoticed.

"My dealings are in Death little God, and if you have no answers for me we will see how easily you pass over."

"_No! Hold… We do not permit it_." The god squirmed again, until tears crept out of its eyes and bloody trickled from its nose. "_Please… please lord Lucifer… we… we did not know_."

"What do you know?"

"_We are… much decayed… less power then of old… powerful being… offered us more power… in exchange… for the acts done… this night._"

"You did not know I would be sent?"

"_No… please… have mercy…_"

"Show me!" Lucifer stepped back, releasing the god from his hold. "Show me this power you were given to unwittingly transport me to this dimension."

As the windows cracked and the ground shook Lucifer knew this to be old magic. The blood started to fall upwards in a mockery of physics. Ethan's body decayed to dust in a matter of seconds. The gemstone cracked and a whirlwind hit the shop, costumes and clothing being pulled in a torrent around the small god, while Lucifer basked in the carnage and chaos eyes wide in joy.

"Mine!" he rose from the ground, wings of light spreading out from Xander's body. "This is my energy!"

The magical plane shifted, the whirlwind began to circle away from the gemstone, leaving Janus shrieking.

"_Hold! It is ours… our payment… you will kill us… if you take it_."

Carnage stilled as the wings of light rose from Xander's body, forming into a being of beauty and fallen grace. The light shifted again until the form had a body and mouth. Angelic wings flapped as this new body of light turned to the gem of Janus. "Then return unto the dreams from whence you came little God."

With those simple words the gemstone cracked and shattered, the winds died completely and the floating clothes and objects clattered to the floor.

* * *

Xander awoke slowly, thinking he had must have been drinking because of the splitting headache he now had. Only once he opened his eyes did bits and pieces of memories return to him. Memories arose, of strength, and will power enough to shape suns. The heart of the late Ethan Rane finally stopped beating as his gaze finally focused, the blood and horror of having your own body taken over caused Xander to choke and heave until he had thrown up all over the floor. 

"Alexander Harris."

The words softly spoken caused Xander to freeze. His body twisted until he looked upwards into the angel above him, a being made entirely of light and held together by will power. The angel bent downwards placing a finger upon the teenager's forehead.

"As the Lord laid his protection on the first born Cain so do I lay my protection upon you, Son of Adam." Pain built in Xander's forehead until he nearly passed out from it, only to find himself held up by the arms of the angel, no, not an angel, Xander remembered now. This was no angel! This was his costume, the suave and intelligent Lord Lucifer of Hell!

Lucifer smiled as Xander gained awareness. "No demon or being of evil may touch you young Alexander." Spoke the Devil. "I have my own honour, and your body hosted me against your will while I was trapped inside it. For that act, you shall forever be under my protection."

Wings of light flapped once, twice, and then the devil was gone, to world unknown. Xander breathed deeply for a moment, pushing down a panic attack. Then he scrambled about, looking for a mirror. Eventually his hands fell upon part of the gemstone big enough to reflect his face. Pulling his floppy hair aside Xander saw the mark that still burned bright red, the scar was that of a pentagram, crude but simple.

Did this mean he was _cursed_? Was he doomed to hell? He was marked by the greatest evil in Christian religion! What was going on? Questions, questions and more questions arose but the darkness in the shop gave no answers. A giggle escaped his lips, then another, and another. Until Alexander Harris was laughing madly, tears streaming down his face, still kneeling in the gore of the remains of the shop.

Footsteps cluttered down towards the shop growing louder until the Scooby gang burst into the building.

"Oh god!" Someone threw up.

"What happened here?" A pair of hands was shaking him. "Xander! Xander! Snap out of it!"

An older voice pulled the hands away. "He's in shock."

Xander's vision blurred as Buffy slapped him. He choked again, and nearly screamed or cried or laughed again he didn't know.

Giles pulled him to his feet, "Xander, you need to focus, tell us whom you dressed as."

Xander blinked once, and again, before whispering "The Devil." And pulling his hair back, he stuttered,"He marked me."

* * *

Lucifer strode through the gates of Hell, or at least the gates of the major hell dimension in this universe. He already trailed a procession of smaller demons. They didn't know what to make of him. 

He almost felt sorry for his dimensional counterpart, the small Devil, Hell had been forced into a twisted version of democracy where you assassinated your way up. There was too many small gods, to many demons. In this dimension by the time Lucifer fell from heaven with the new Christian religion, there were already thousands of more powerful demons.

Thus this dimensions Lucifer had been stuck in the lower echelons of Hell, never rising. Never ruling. A shame.

The Lord of Hell had already killed his counterpart. There could not be two Lucifer's. Ever.

What had that stupid human writer wrote? Better to rule in hell then serve in heaven. What idiocy, there was no ruling anything in a dimension with an omniscient god. But here! Here where there wasn't any all-powerful being…

Here he could truly do his will. Without his father looking over his shoulder. He would topple heaven and hell and command them both.

* * *

I could conclude the story but suffice to say, having the devil in the Buffy-verse things would go badly very quickly. I only drafted out an ultimate ending for a fight between the first evil and Lucifer, and Lucifer stating what the first evil REALLY is. If people are interested I'll whip up a conclusion, if not I have more shorts that are eating at my brain. 


	2. Sunnydale Survivors

**Disclaimer**: Not owned by moi. Owned by someone with money to sue with an army of lawyer.

Okay, this little collection of stories was meant to start with a nice little fiction involving Jesse. That 'Little' story started as a two scene plot inside my head, on paper is took root and is now numbering in many pages and many scenes and keeps ruddy growing. It should be finished soon but untill then here is a small set of drabbles.

Short Summery: The stories of the little people in the Sunnydale universe who fall on the wayside.

* * *

The Fanatic

He sits bleeding in the street. Surrounded by dust. Fingering his cross. A lone picture is folded in his pocket, of his graduation. His hands pick it out and unfold it carefully, it is very fragile from use, and his eyes devour it hungrily, absorbing the power behind the memories. Many of these people have ignored the truth. Tried to go on with life. But he couldn't. He couldn't ignore the darkness that infested the earth; he was one of the hidden saviours, the unnoticed and unheard of heroes in the night.

He lives on the streets. Humanity never notices him. But he has his faith. He remembers long ago when his faith was wavering and a bright boy his own age had revealed the truth of the world to him. Of darkness, and the power of God. Mere days later an agent of the Devil burnt and turned away from the cross that he held against it. Faith had power. He felt that power flow through him, felt closer to God then any praying or rituals had ever gotten him.

Screams filled the night and the man stood, joints clicking from old age. Another life needed saving. Tonight another agent of the Devil would be sent to Hell.

* * *

The Crazy

She told everyone she met that vampires were real and had attacked her school. It was only a matter of time before they locked her in the loony bin. Doctors Gaising tried everything she could think of, no medication helped, and all sessions ended with the patient still convinced that vampires stalked the night.

One night two criminals broke into the asylum, they killed many people, psychiatrists and patients. Doctor Gaising was more horrified when the Criminals faces distorted, as though they had suddenly scared themselves. They suddenly began biting the necks of some of the remaining patients, talking to each other about the difference in taste when eating crazy people. Panic spread through the remaining crowd as they stalked them like cattle through the locked hall. One of them came towards Doctor Gaising, blood still dripping from his teeth, she screamed. The man disappeared in a cloud of dust. The Doctor was left staring in horror at the grinning face of her patient holding a pencil at chest height. The Patient grinned manically yelling, "I told you vampires were real!" before running after the remaining criminal and turning him into dust as well.

When the police and officials came later they deemed that the panic from the criminals savagery had caused the crowd to experience a state of mass delusion, where everyone shared in the same mental delusion of one person. Doctor Gaising's patient was quickly identified and moved to solitary confinement never to be let out until cured.

Doctor Gaising walked home everyday remembering the vision of blood dripping from teeth.

* * *

The Stalker

Larry stalked the little girl into the alley. She had blonde wavy hair and a petite body, one of those girls that would look young and cute for years. She was probably so innocent and sheltered that she had never even heard the word vampire. Such a perfect little snack. Keeping to the Shadows Larry followed her into the alley, motioning to his accomplice, Harry, to join him.

They got halfway in when the little girl threw herself at Larry.

"You found me! Oh yes! Stick your big fangs in me!"

Larry panicked and stumbled backwards landing on his bottom. Fending of the girl until Harry pulled her off him. They shared a look, yes they were both still young by vampire standards but this was not how things were meant to go.

"Oh your so strong…" The girl started grinding against Harry bending her head sideways revealing her neck provocatively.

"What the hell's going on?" demanded Larry.

"You bad vampires were about to drink little me dry."

"What? What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing!" tears formed in the young girls eyes. "Please. Don't you want me?"

"There is something so wrong when food throws itself at you." Harry held the girl at arms length. "Maybe there's something wrong with her blood, you could catch something."

"No!" cried the girl.

Harry threw the girl aside into the alley, "Come too Sunnydale you said Larry, best hunting grounds there you said Larry. Good territory to be had you said. I **told** you that the slayer vibes had messed with the food! This has been down right creepy!"

"I feel dirty," muttered Larry as he sniffed his clothes, "she was all over me before… you don't think she passed anything on do you?"

"Don't be a baby."

The blonde girl managed to get upright and stagger towards the vampires sobbing.

"Hey!" squealed Larry as she neared him, "Don't you come any closer girly! We don't want you okay? Take your body and your dirty blood somewhere else!"

"Come on let's get out of here," Harry muttered as he dragged Larry back out of the alley. "I need a shower. Then we're leaving."

"Oh come on! One bad victim…"

"You want to go back in there and drink her?"

"Hell no!"

Neither of them cared about the little girl they left sobbing behind them. She had been kidnapped and kept as cattle for years by vampires. Before being "saved" by some humans calling themselves slayers. She only craved to be wanted again like in the past. She didn't know how to live in the outside world.

* * *

The Dead

He awoke in the earth, smelling of decay and worms. Their had been a fight, he had been bitten, turned. How dare those slayers try to rally the students, he had been a small boy easily led astray, it was their fault he had been turned into a vampire. He dug upwards, sharp claws tearing their way to starlight. Oh yes they would pay; he had been one of them, one of their army against the mayor. He knew all their secrets; he would laugh over their corpses, drink their blood and use their entrails as clothes.

The vampire tore through earth to come face to face with Buffy Summers and the end of a crossbow, he managed a small growl of anger and then he was dust.

Buffy turned from the gravestone to her companions, "That was the last of them. It's over."

* * *

The Comrade

She was meant for the army. After years of cheerleading one moment at high school graduation had shown Anne her future. Fighting monsters under the command of a true leader. She had signed up a month later. It was hard work, being female and in the army you had to be tougher and more stubborn then the men just to be accepted. Strike first and strike hard. Her instructors commented on how fearless she was, an ice queen. But Anne could be scared; her nightmares woke her every night. But no matter what her superior officers threw at her, they were only human, only human…

She met monsters again in Africa, Hulking smelly shaggy beasts in the desert that tore through her unit. Someone managed to call for help but none of the others knew how to deal with what was going on, they were shocked and scared. Anne took out the monsters with headshots. Nothing could survive without a head, she remembered being told that. One by one her unit fell to claws and fangs, until only she was left standing. She ran out of bullets with the last monster. Bleeding and angry it attacked her, ripping her flesh with mindless blows. She never screamed. A shadow emerged on a hilltop in the distance. Anne passed out.

Firm hands gently shook her awake again; poured blessed water into her parched mouth and bandaged her wounds.

"You're safe now Anne, a team has been called to retrieve you"

Stinging eyes revealed a one eyed man, smiling at her in pride. He was older, leaner, more chiselled then she remembered. But a solider never forgets the face of a commanding officer.

"Sir." He smiled at her again, "How did you find me, Sir?"

"I always look after my girls Anne," He tapped at his empty socket, "I keep one eye free to look over everyone."

When the retrieval team arrived they could not figure out what had happened. Anne didn't say anything. Things were smoothed out with the brass somehow. She suspected he'd helped that along somehow. Still watching out for her.

Anne slept soundly from then on.

* * *

The Help Group

"Hello, my name is Laura, and I'm a Halloween Victim"

"Hello Laura," chorused the group as Laura retook her seat.

"Now Laura," chirped the organiser, "as a new comer we'll go round and the group will summarise their own experience of that night to make you feel more comfortable when it comes to you. Ok?"

Laura was very nervous, but she felt comfort being surrounded by so many people that had gone through the same thing. The group was very hard to find. An anonymous benefactor had started it last year. She was glad that nice Mr Giles had pointed her in the right direction.

An old man stood up, he looked sad. "I don't know you yet Ms Laura, but my tale is not as scary as some of the others. I dressed as a cowboy; a fancy from younger years, Marge insisted I dress up to greet the children knocking for sweets. She's very thoughtful, likes to give them a show." He dazed of in a dreamy contemplation until someone nearby nudged him. "Oh yes. Well. A cowboy. A cow-BOY. Oh I was young again. It… it hits you. How frail, how… your body changes. I was strong again for that night. I rode the horse that appeared with me. Felt the wind on my face. Kissed the young ladies in nightly haunts. Fought a lad who lipped me. I felt like a god. But then it was over, and I was old again. My hip hurts in the night now. And I can't look at Marge. My mind keeps thinking of all those young woman." He gazed directly at Laura. "It isn't fair to remind an old man about things that he can no longer have or do."

There was a silence as the old man sat down. Then a smattering of applause went round the circle. Laura joined in but it felt forced. The next person to stand up was a young man. He wore a suit and twisted his tie a lot. His glasses were dirty and he squinted.

"Good evening. My name is Mr House. On the night of Halloween I went to a fancy dress party wearing a simple costume of Dracula." House noticed Laura's look of horror. "Yes my dear. I dressed as vampire. And for the rest of that night I was a vampire. I felt a mind within my own. Much older and wiser then myself. He was amused by what was happening. I was… helpless, as he talked to me inside my own head, dug out my memories and watched as some of the other party members turned into their costumes, causing terror in the other people." House removed his glasses and tried in vain to wipe off the muck. "None of us here, know why some people were changed and others weren't. Dracula watched, as a co-worker of mine became a werewolf, which leapt through the window into the street. Then he… you have to understand I had no control. Dracula took a woman I worked with, someone I greatly admired. He took her and he… He killed her."

Laura gasped quietly, realising that this boring looking businessman had killed someone. Murdered in fact. Somehow House must have heard her for a second later he was glaring at her in anger.

"As I said Ms Laura, I had no control. I will not held accountable for the actions of that monster. He drained her dry and then fed her his own blood before leaving her for dead in an alley. I was called the next day to identify the body. The police somehow chalked the cause of death as Gangs on PCP." House glared harshly at Laura until she felt her gaze drop. A smattering of applause started until House raised his hand. "There is more." He said, shocking not just Laura but the whole room as well it seemed. "Last week I had a visitor. My co-worker, Lisa was her name in life. She came to visit me. She had become a vampire. Every night since she has waited outside my house taunting me, calling me her Sire and begging me to… become a vampire again and walk the nights with her. I do not know what to do." House looked young and helpless in that moment. Gasps and muttering started around the circle; Laura herself felt a deep sense of dread curl up in her belly. She has thought the night Halloween was something horrible from the past for these people, not the present.

"Quiet please!" The Organiser's stern voice cut through the chatter. "I will inform the benefactor of what has happened with Lisa and he will deal with it."

House looked up in hope asking, "Can he do something? I cannot…"

"Yes Mr House, do not worry any more. Lisa will be put to rest do not worry."

The circle seemed satisfied, even Laura felt better knowing a horrible problem was being dealt with by someone else. But she wondered how many other times had the benefactor stepped in to deal with something? A woman rose next. She was chubby and had rosy cheeks.

"Hello, I'm Bethany." She looked ashamed and whispered, "I did it again last night" the circle was instantly on their feet, some angry, some trying to comfort the woman. Eventually Bethany gestured them back to their seats and turned to Laura, the newcomer.

"My husband died last year. Don't be upset he went quietly in his sleep. Heart attack they said, he was only 37. I missed him. George had been my life. Last Halloween I dressed up as a witch. But…" Here Bethany scrunched up her face and looked aside. "I dressed up as myself as a witch. I write stories you see. About my life if I was secretly a witch. I only ever read them to George. But when I was a witch. I was me, as a witch. If that makes sense… She, I… This is so hard to explain."

House interrupted Bethany's rambling, "She brought her husband back from the dead."

"House!"

"Have some sensitivity man."

"Let her speak, you had your turn."

Bethany looked ready to cry but continued on, "Yes I brought George back. But it's not really him. Not the important part. All I brought back was a body, it moves when I tell it to and speaks when I ask but it has no soul. It's not my husband but it looks so much like him its torture! And so sometimes… When it gets too much, I go down to the cellar where I keep it and order it to… I use it for pleasure. It looks so much like my husband."

The grown woman broke into sobs and Laura realised what Bethany had meant when she started speaking. A man beside Bethany started to comfort her only to stop when House glared at him. The man chuckled instead, rising to his feet. Laura suddenly realised that after he spoke it would be her turn. The strange surreal nature of this meeting was suddenly forgotten and she felt nervous and scared all over again.

This new man was tall and bony. Sunken eyes and long nose gave the impression that he was constantly glaring. He surveyed the room once, before turning to Laura next to him, she felt a chill run up her spine, like someone had walked over her grave. She refocused to find the man speaking in a surprisingly soft voice. "On Halloween, I dressed as Death, the Grim Reaper."

She believed him. Completely.

"I was as a ghost, walking through the walls of reality and watching as mankind died one soul at a time. I knew all of them intimately, had walked with all of them through all their lives, whether they had a few days or many decades I had always been there. Even know I know people. Sometimes I even know when someone will die. Do not worry Laura Turner. You will live a long full life. I will leave you now to tell your own story yourself."

The whole circle breathed a sigh of relief when he sat down. But Laura's thoughts were still caught up in his words. She was about to ask when he turned to her again and mouthed 'later'. Had he known that she was going to ask? She did not know. He scared her.

Laura realised it was her turn. She was scared, would they accept what had happened that Halloween night? Some of them had been through horrid experiences. But only Death's memories seemed to have stuck, unlike what had happened to her.

"My name… My name at the moment is Laura Turner. I… I can't do this" She tried to run only to find Death's hand on her shoulder. He gazed at her and nodded once, somehow calming her. She turned back to the circle. "A few months ago my name was Locklarze. On Halloween I dressed up as a human"

She waited until someone asked the question. "What do you mean?"

"Before Halloween I wasn't human, I was a demon." The words just rolled of her tongue, "We normally stay in on Halloween, Demons I mean, but I wanted to do something different, so I bought a disguise from a wizard, so that I looked like the girl you see before you now. When Halloween ended I was stuck in this form.

They all stared at her, did they hate her?

"That can't be true." Muttered someone at the back.

"She's telling the truth," House stated. "Or at least she thinks she is."

"It is the truth." Confirmed Death.

And that was it. No one argued with Death, Laura already knew that. Suddenly it felt like a huge weight was lifted from her shoulders and she realised she was crying in relief from not having to hide who she really was.

"Well." Said the organiser, bringing attention to herself. "That leads nicely in something I wanted to address today. I think by now it has become obvious to both ourselves and even to others that Halloween has left us with changes, whether they are mental, new skills, new abilities, or in the case of Ms Turner, a new body. I want everyone to admit to what they have."

There was the feeling that lots of people have suddenly been caught out, everyone in the circle glanced at each other. Waiting for someone to go first. Laura was quite glad that there was nothing left for her to admit.

Mr House stood up suddenly. "I have perfect hearing"

Bethany looked confused, "what do you mean?"

House cast her a look, before pointing at Bethany with one finger on his right hand, and one finger at Laura with his left. Both digits started moving back and forth. Laura thought something seemed familiar about the rhythm of the one pointed at her. Then she realised. It was her heartbeat. As she felt shock and horror her heart beat faster against her rib cage. House's finger kept perfect time.

"Stop it!!" Screamed Bethany.

House seemed shocked her outburst, then smoothed down his suit. "I'm sorry it was only a demonstration." He sat down.

Another woman at the back suddenly said, "I can walk through walls."

"I conjure fire when I'm angry!"

"My wounds heal when I cut myself."

"I have prophetic dreams."

On and on it went. And with each admittance Laura felt more and more at home. The Session eventually ended and promised to meet again next week. There were hugs and farewells. Mr House even asked if he could escort her home when she admitted that she had met the real Dracula as a demon. He was dreadfully interested. And not so bad on the eyes either when he took of his tie and jacket. Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad being human after all.

**END**

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Please R&R 


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